Oakmont–Verona–Plum Development Site, Pennsylvania
May 20, 2440, 6:16 AM
“The water testing came back.”
S’ira K’var set her breakfast beside her workstation and transferred the results to the main display.
S’rethi opened the sample records.
Several of the springs produced reasonably consistent results: pH eight point three, substantial dissolved calcium and bicarbonate, and no contamination in the initial testing that ruled out the proposed landscape uses.
D’vann examined the sampling locations.
“Those are the flows we were considering for ponds?”
“Yes,” S’ira said.
“Good. Keep the alternatives on the plan until we know which outlets hold.”
His bondmate nodded.
“The chemistry is encouraging. The flow records still need time.”
Water had begun emerging at new locations as Wonder Foam filled old mine workings and altered the underground drainage. Some outlets had weakened as stabilization continued. Others were developing persistent streams.
D’vann brought up the proposed watercourses.
“With this hardness, we’ll want access to inspect and clean the drops.”
“Yes,” S’rethi said. “Especially where the water loses carbon dioxide. We may get carbonate deposits.”
“Our waterfalls making their own stone.”
“Geology doesn’t stop merely because you’ve decided something is landscaping.”
He smiled.
“Then we should give the maintenance crews somewhere to stand.”
S’ira added the requirement to the design notes.
“And the fish?” she asked.
“We have useful water-quality results to send to someone who knows Earth fish,” S’rethi said. “That is our next step.”
Matt’s request had already reached the planners yesterday, along with his warning about frost pockets. Possible ponds now appeared beside the drainage options. Planting areas were being reviewed against the paths cold air would take through the new terrain.
D’vann selected a low section outside the structural footprint.
“We could try something small here.”
S’rethi examined the underlying survey.
“A test pond?”
“And a short channel. See how the placement behaves on that rubble before we decide how elaborate to become.”
She checked its relationship to the nearest spring.
“That would work.”
6:34 AM
The human construction supervisor joined them with coffee and a plate of eggs and potatoes.
“Where do you need the forms today?”
D’vann opened the placement sequence.
“Along this advancing edge. These sections first, then the access boundary here.”
The supervisor studied the model.
“Room to move them without crossing the active placement?”
“On the outside. R’alen has the route.”
The first sitio’s foundation had been advancing since May 18. Now the placement equipment was reaching sections where the expanding material required defined containment.
Laser references established the geometry. Crews placed and verified the forms ahead of the work, while adjustments to the foam’s consistency helped control its spread near the boundaries.
The lower garage areas remained open within the apartment district. Drainage and access corridors were similarly preserved.
The supervisor traced the next section.
“I’ll keep the crew moving along this side. If the placement catches us, hold it at the marked boundary.”
“Agreed,” D’vann said.
S’rethi added the latest geological release.
“These sections are clear. The restriction farther east remains.”
He checked the update.
“Anything else?”
“A small landscape trial,” D’vann said. “We’ll need a backpack sprayer.”
The supervisor glanced toward the watercourse model.
“Trying out a waterfall?”
“A pond and a channel first.”
“Probably wise to begin with something you can step over.”
8:22 AM
Below the operating base, the reclamation unit continued taking in camp waste and river muck.
Powered by the T-38 on the riverfront shelf, it supplied a steady output of clean water and usable soil. Harmful material was gasified or vitrified into contained streams and held for further shipboard processing.
The soil stockpile was growing beside ground that had barely begun to resemble a place for planting.
S’rethi stopped with D’vann to review the output report.
“We’ll have somewhere to use it soon,” he said.
“More places than we can plant at once.”
The unit continued working while they moved on toward the first sitio.
Forms were advancing along the foundation edge. Beyond them lay broken limestone, survey machines, and the unfinished ground separating the three settlement footprints.
The second sitio stood fifteen meters above the first. The third rose another twenty meters farther east. Matt had accepted the higher elevation; the crews were implementing the corresponding plans.
S’rethi watched a placement section expand toward its containment.
The surface settled into the calculated profile.
D’vann checked the measurement against the model, then released the next stage.
10:48 AM
The test site was a shallow depression among the rubble, clear of the structural foundations and construction access.
D’vann stood beside the technician carrying the backpack Wonder Foam sprayer.
“A small basin here,” he said, indicating the marked area. “Leave the overflow at that end. We’ll take the channel around the larger stones.”
The technician checked the selected formulation, then began applying the material.
Wonder Foam spread into the irregular ground, joining the broken surfaces. He worked around the basin, controlling the edge rather than allowing the expanding material to wander through the rubble.
S’rethi watched from beside the channel markers.
“Keep that outlet visible.”
The technician adjusted his position.
The channel followed the fall of the ground, turning between exposed rocks toward the lower drainage route. At its upper end, a short drop connected it to the little basin.
D’vann walked along the outside.
“Easy access from this side.”
“And room to alter it,” S’rethi said.
He nodded.
The technician finished the outlet and stepped back.
It was a small piece of work beside the enormous foundation operation. Its curves followed the rubble rather than the settlement grid.
S’ira recorded the placement.
“How long before we introduce water?”
“When the material is ready and the section has been checked,” her mother answered.
D’vann looked at the basin.
“No fish yet.”
S’ira smiled.
“I hadn’t ordered any.”
1:37 PM
Water entered the trial channel.
At first, it disappeared among the shallow irregularities of the new surface. Then the flow joined itself, gathered at the drop, and began filling the basin.
D’vann crouched beside the overflow.
S’rethi remained a little farther back, watching the whole route.
The pond rose to its outlet. Water crossed the lip and continued downhill through the channel.
The technician moved along it, checking where the flow slowed and where it ran against an edge.
“A little more depth through that bend,” D’vann said.
S’ira marked it.
“And this approach,” S’rethi added. “Keep the water from spreading behind the basin.”
They watched for several more minutes.
The trial had given them a contained flow, a small pond, and two places to improve.
D’vann stood.
“That was worth doing.”
S’rethi nodded.
“Make the adjustments and keep recording it.”
“Send His Lordship a picture?”
“Once we’ve fixed the bend.”
3:26 PM
Ella Murphy found two human workers beside the maintenance building.
“Have either of you heard anything more about the citizenship?”
One shook her head.
The other kept examining a returned machine.
“I still don’t understand why people act as though asking is wrong,” Ella said. “My family’s been here for generations.”
“You asked me yesterday.”
“And you didn’t have much to say.”
“I haven’t acquired anything since.”
Ella looked toward the woman.
“What about you?”
“I’m helping him.”
“I can see that.”
“Then give us a minute.”
Ella waited long enough to make it clear she had noticed the dismissal, then moved toward the adjoining work area.
5:41 PM
The test pond was holding its level.
Water crossed the revised overflow and followed the channel through the rubble. The bend no longer pushed the flow against the outer edge.
D’vann checked the recording.
“We should keep this one.”
“As a trial?”
“As a pond.”
S’rethi looked around it.
The surrounding ground remained rough. There were no trees, no grass, and nowhere comfortable to sit. A short distance away, machines were still preparing a landscape large enough for thousands of homes.
“Yes,” she said. “We can keep it.”
S’ira took the photograph.
6:08 PM
People were gathering for supper when Ella approached one of the V’ren women.
“Do you know Tell Rarz?”
“I know who she is.”
“Eric Garcia manages my apartment building.”
The woman set her plate on the table.
“Does he?”
“He has children. I wonder what they make of it.”
“You could ask him.”
“I’m asking what you think.”
“About children I haven’t met?”
“About how quickly these things happen.”
The woman looked toward a colleague who was making room for her farther along the table.
“Excuse me.”
Ella watched her go, then turned toward another conversation.
Near the end of the row, D’vann showed the pond photograph to the construction supervisor.
“You got your water feature.”
“A small one.”
“Looks good.”
“We had to alter the bend.”
“Usually do.”
S’rethi sat beside her bondmate.
He looked once more at the photograph, then at Matt’s message beneath it.
“Do you suppose he expects us to put our names on it?”
“On what?”
“The city.”
She laughed.
“I think he’s telling us we won’t need to.”
